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iam's review against another edition
3.0
2.5 stars
Tale of a Dragon Princess is a rather short fantasy novella about Mellie, a princess cursed to turn into an ice dragon every night, her loving parents and Adie, a young warrior, who together find out why Mellie was cursed and how to reverse it.
The story felt rather fairy tale like in it's shortness and how some of it was told.
Overall, the writing was really awkward. It didn't flow well, didn't build up emotion or excitement, and the dialogue felt stilted and unatural.
The first two chapters are told from Queen Jasmine's PoV, who is Mellie's mother. For the prologue that details how Mellie was cursed as a baby that made sense, but beyond that it felt a bit weird. The rest of the book's POV switch between Mellie and Adie.
What was nice was the tids and bits of worldbuilding, that also reminded me a bit of fairy tales, and the representation. Mellie is lesbian and afraid of how people will react if she tells them and what it means for her as future queen in a heteronormative society where she is expected to marry well, while Adie is bisexual and from a community that welcomes all sexualities. Mellie is white and Adie is black, and Adie is disabled, she has a prothesis, PTSD and what is probably dyslexia.
The romance between them was sweet and straightforward, though I was a bit bewildered by how fixated Adie was on Mellie's perceived innocence.
I also liked how despite the shortness of the book and how linear and predictable the plot was there were still lots of conversations about (self-)acceptance, coming out, disability, and PTSD and how to deal with traumatic events.
Tale of a Dragon Princess is a rather short fantasy novella about Mellie, a princess cursed to turn into an ice dragon every night, her loving parents and Adie, a young warrior, who together find out why Mellie was cursed and how to reverse it.
The story felt rather fairy tale like in it's shortness and how some of it was told.
Overall, the writing was really awkward. It didn't flow well, didn't build up emotion or excitement, and the dialogue felt stilted and unatural.
The first two chapters are told from Queen Jasmine's PoV, who is Mellie's mother. For the prologue that details how Mellie was cursed as a baby that made sense, but beyond that it felt a bit weird. The rest of the book's POV switch between Mellie and Adie.
What was nice was the tids and bits of worldbuilding, that also reminded me a bit of fairy tales, and the representation. Mellie is lesbian and afraid of how people will react if she tells them and what it means for her as future queen in a heteronormative society where she is expected to marry well, while Adie is bisexual and from a community that welcomes all sexualities. Mellie is white and Adie is black, and Adie is disabled, she has a prothesis, PTSD and what is probably dyslexia.
The romance between them was sweet and straightforward, though I was a bit bewildered by how fixated Adie was on Mellie's perceived innocence.
I also liked how despite the shortness of the book and how linear and predictable the plot was there were still lots of conversations about (self-)acceptance, coming out, disability, and PTSD and how to deal with traumatic events.
iamleighbot's review against another edition
1.5
This book is poorly written/edited but the characters had a lot of potential and the overall plot is original
iceprime5's review against another edition
4.0
This is a short story (~60 pages) that follows a cursed princess as she tries to understand her curse. The story mainly revolves around the princess Mellie and her friend Adie. The story is good and I would have loved if the story was longer to better expand on the plot and world. There isn't a lot of action and the end wraps up quickly; again, there are lots of areas for the story to grow if this were longer but it's a nice quick read.
halazia's review against another edition
3.0
Thank you NineStar Press and NetGalley for providing me this ARC in exchange for an honest review.
I did enjoy this book, but there was some things that made my experience a little uncomfortable and it was difficult to be 100% into the story. I'm talking about the writing, it was kind of weird? Especially for a fantasy book, I was expecting something different.
The plot was another thing that wasn't perfect for me, everything was solved so easily and there wasn't any action, but I do understand the pacing, since it's a novelette.
I liked the relationship between Mellie and Andie, I think if this wasn't a short book I'd probably spend the entire night reading about them.
This book was nice and I'd recommend it for someone that wants to get out of a reading slump or for someone that just wants to enjoy a quick read.
I did enjoy this book, but there was some things that made my experience a little uncomfortable and it was difficult to be 100% into the story. I'm talking about the writing, it was kind of weird? Especially for a fantasy book, I was expecting something different.
The plot was another thing that wasn't perfect for me, everything was solved so easily and there wasn't any action, but I do understand the pacing, since it's a novelette.
I liked the relationship between Mellie and Andie, I think if this wasn't a short book I'd probably spend the entire night reading about them.
This book was nice and I'd recommend it for someone that wants to get out of a reading slump or for someone that just wants to enjoy a quick read.
sapphicsolace's review against another edition
3.0
Review on my blog • Twitter • Instagram
Rep: f/f romance, disabled mc, lesbian mc, bisexual mc
Release date: 20th August 2018
I received this from the publisher via netgalley in exchange for an honest review
Tale of a Dragon Princess sounded like an exciting book with an f/f romance, lesbian princess who is cursed, and bisexual warrior. It had a really exciting and grabbing premise and with sapphics on top of that? Exciting! But the execution wasn't the best.
The world was quite... bland. There wasn't any world building, and what there was felt very generic. It could've used the world to its advantage, it could've used magic more, it could've use the setting more since you don't see snow too much in fantasy (at least what I've read), but it really wasn't. It wasn't too long to begin with, it was only 20k words. Short books can sometimes be detrimental to a book. Some stories work contained in a novelette like this, but the length was a huge problem for the book. There wasn't too much time for the romance or the characters to develop, and it was mostly contained to one setting. This made the book dull, and the characters suffered from that.
I did think there were some positives though. I liked the discussion around the trauma Mellie was going through, and I did enjoy that there was some talk in how she's a lesbian who is in a position where she feels she has to marry a man, but she's not met with any homophobia either. Adie is also from a kingdom where queerness is normal. I loved that aspect. Their romance is something I'd describe as 'sweet' but it was insta-love. And I feel that's because of the short length. There was no time to develop it fully, so that was used instead which was kind of annoying.
I wouldn't say this book was bad, it was just dull and forgettable.
lacyduckie's review against another edition
3.0
While Tale of a Dragon Princess reads more like a story from an anthology, it was still a cute quick read.
If you're in a reading slump or just in the mood for a short fantasy with dragons and princesses and sapphic girls then I recommend this book.
Edit: I think with some world building and fleshing out the characters more, this story has the potential of being turned into a great fantasy series. The more I think about, it could also be marketed using Frozen hype. Frozen but gayer and with dragons. 😂❄🐉💕 It currently feels more middle grade than young adult, though.
Thank you Netgalley for offering me a review copy.
If you're in a reading slump or just in the mood for a short fantasy with dragons and princesses and sapphic girls then I recommend this book.
Edit: I think with some world building and fleshing out the characters more, this story has the potential of being turned into a great fantasy series. The more I think about, it could also be marketed using Frozen hype. Frozen but gayer and with dragons. 😂❄🐉💕 It currently feels more middle grade than young adult, though.
Thank you Netgalley for offering me a review copy.
zanderstruck's review against another edition
2.0
I received this arc from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
I think I went into this story expecting something different. It is marked as a novelette, so I should have known it was short beforehand. It still surprised me a bit.
What I liked about this story is the diversity. It featured a f/f romance, one half of which was a woman of colour and suffered from a disability. Overall it's a nice little fairytale about a cursed princess, who transforms into a dragon at night and sets out to save herself from that curse. The story itself is intriguing enough, but the execution sadly didn't work for me.
Since the story was so short, I felt like everything was very rushed. Two chapters were filled with introduction that could have dealt with in a quicker manner so that there would be more space for adventures on her quest to save herself. There wasn't space though and that meant there weren't really adventures. The romance also came quite out of nowhere and the resolution to the conflict came quick and easy.
I would say this could be a nice read for much younger readers than me, maybe middle-grade, who just wanna read something quick and easy without much drama or excitement. The diversity is great, everything else was sadly lacking in my opinion and couldn't convince me.
I think I went into this story expecting something different. It is marked as a novelette, so I should have known it was short beforehand. It still surprised me a bit.
What I liked about this story is the diversity. It featured a f/f romance, one half of which was a woman of colour and suffered from a disability. Overall it's a nice little fairytale about a cursed princess, who transforms into a dragon at night and sets out to save herself from that curse. The story itself is intriguing enough, but the execution sadly didn't work for me.
Since the story was so short, I felt like everything was very rushed. Two chapters were filled with introduction that could have dealt with in a quicker manner so that there would be more space for adventures on her quest to save herself. There wasn't space though and that meant there weren't really adventures. The romance also came quite out of nowhere and the resolution to the conflict came quick and easy.
I would say this could be a nice read for much younger readers than me, maybe middle-grade, who just wanna read something quick and easy without much drama or excitement. The diversity is great, everything else was sadly lacking in my opinion and couldn't convince me.
hopemikaelson's review against another edition
3.0
Thank you NineStar Press and NetGalley for providing me this ARC in exchange for an honest review.
I did enjoy this book, but there was some things that made my experience a little uncomfortable and it was difficult to be 100% into the story. I'm talking about the writing, it was kind of weird? Especially for a fantasy book, I was expecting something different.
The plot was another thing that wasn't perfect for me, everything was solved so easily and there wasn't any action, but I do understand the pacing, since it's a novelette.
I liked the relationship between Mellie and Andie, I think if this wasn't a short book I'd probably spend the entire night reading about them.
This book was nice and I'd recommend it for someone that wants to get out of a reading slump or for someone that just wants to enjoy a quick read.
I did enjoy this book, but there was some things that made my experience a little uncomfortable and it was difficult to be 100% into the story. I'm talking about the writing, it was kind of weird? Especially for a fantasy book, I was expecting something different.
The plot was another thing that wasn't perfect for me, everything was solved so easily and there wasn't any action, but I do understand the pacing, since it's a novelette.
I liked the relationship between Mellie and Andie, I think if this wasn't a short book I'd probably spend the entire night reading about them.
This book was nice and I'd recommend it for someone that wants to get out of a reading slump or for someone that just wants to enjoy a quick read.
sarikaax's review against another edition
1.0
stopped paying attention at 30%
THIS BOOK WAS SO BAD OH MY GOOOOOOOOD
this was awful, I thought the storyline sounded great and I’m not even joking but it was over within 30 pages (it was also poorly written crap), the writer clearly wanted to get into her quirky lesbian romance scenes
But yeah, this was awful, I feel bad for hating this because it’s an ARC and the author needs reviews but I can’t act like this is good, I just can’t
THIS BOOK WAS SO BAD OH MY GOOOOOOOOD
this was awful, I thought the storyline sounded great and I’m not even joking but it was over within 30 pages (it was also poorly written crap), the writer clearly wanted to get into her quirky lesbian romance scenes
But yeah, this was awful, I feel bad for hating this because it’s an ARC and the author needs reviews but I can’t act like this is good, I just can’t
penguininabluebox's review against another edition
2.0
I received a free copy from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
This book unfortunately really disappointed me. I LOVE the premise and think it has so much potential, but as for the actual execution of this book, I just felt that it was way too short and things therefore happened way too quickly. This has the potential to be a great adventure story, but fails to build the suspense required for that because everything feels too rushed and convenient. I did appreciate the f/f romance in here, but unfortunately it was not enough to make me really like the book.
This book unfortunately really disappointed me. I LOVE the premise and think it has so much potential, but as for the actual execution of this book, I just felt that it was way too short and things therefore happened way too quickly. This has the potential to be a great adventure story, but fails to build the suspense required for that because everything feels too rushed and convenient. I did appreciate the f/f romance in here, but unfortunately it was not enough to make me really like the book.